Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
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Archive
End of COVID disaster payments looms large for stressed tenants
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)More tenants could find themselves struggling to pay rent as they emerge from lockdown, faced with losing income support payments before they can fully return to work. With the end of the COVID disaster payment fast approaching, more tenants could find themselves in rental stress or having to vacate a property they can no longer afford, tenant groups fear. ... The looming end of the payment could cause significant problems for those still unemployed or underemployed, said Leo Patterson Ross, the chief executive of the Tenants’ Union of NSW. “It’s very contingent on how [the city’s reopening and businesses] go. We know there is a huge level of unemployment and underemployment at the moment – a lot of people are not doing as well as they were before COVID hit – so we think it’s important to ensure the support continues while there is a need for it,” he said. Throughout lockdown, NSW tenants who’ve lost at least 25 per cent of their income have been protected by an eviction moratorium, as long as they continue to pay at least 25 per cent of their rent. The moratorium is scheduled to end next month and will be followed by a three-month transition period. Landlords have been also able to access up to $4500 in financial assistance – to be passed on to tenants via a rent reduction – or a land tax benefit. That sum would help bridge the shortfall for a tenant paying just a quarter of the rent across much of the city until December, Mr Patterson Ross said.
https://www.domain.com.au/news/tenants-bracing-for-end-of-covid-…
# TUNSW in the media Australia, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Federal Government, Housing market, State Government.After Ida, How Can Affordable Housing Withstand Climate Impacts?
Alex Williamson (No paywall)When the remnants of Hurricane Ida struck the Northeast in early September, the region was inundated by devastating flash floods. Across four states, the storm killed more than 40 people, caused up to $24 billion in property damage, and knocked out power to 150,000 homes. New Jersey and New York City were hit particularly hard—30 New Jersey residents drowned in their homes and vehicles, and in NYC, 13 residents died, most drowning in their basement apartments. ... What lessons can Ida offer to affordable housing managers and owners whose properties are at risk of extreme weather? (Shelterforce)
https://shelterforce.org/2021/10/14/after-ida-how-can-affordable…
# International, Affordable housing, Climate change, Landlords and agents.‘Crisis’ of Aboriginal homelessness in sights of multimillion dollar plan
Cameron Gooley The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A $12 million plan to reduce homelessness in the state’s Aboriginal communities has been welcomed by some First Nations service providers, but they warn far more needs to be done to fix an ongoing housing “crisis”. The NSW government has pledged to launch an Aboriginal Homelessness Sector Growth Project by April, with a goal to help Indigenous organisations run more support programs for at-risk people. ... The program will be aimed specifically at southern NSW, the New England region, and Western Sydney, and the government has promised to engage with local Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs) to co-design service models.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/crisis-of-aboriginal-homeles…
# NSW, Homelessness, Race and ethnicity.I live in an apartment. How can I cut my risk of getting COVID?
Geoff Hamner The Conversation (No paywall)Governments are pressing ahead with home quarantine for returning travellers and people are isolating at home due to COVID-19. So now is a good time to think about what you can do to reduce your risk of infection if you live in an apartment.
https://theconversation.com/i-live-in-an-apartment-how-can-i-cut…
# Hot topic Australia, Strata, Coronavirus COVID-19.Housing 2030 study published covering 56 countries
(No paywall)A study has been published by The partnership of the UNECE, Housing Europe, UN Habitat team, with the financial support of the Irish Housing Finance Agency, Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland, the Slovenian Ministry of Urban Planning and the Czech Ministry of Regional Development. The International Union of Tenants was one of many contributors with good practice examples. It is our pleasure to share with you the published Report and bring to your attention to the extensive and searchable Website Housing2030.org which brings many good practice illustrations to the fore. Go to: [https://www.housing2030.org/] (International Union of Tenants]
https://www.iut.nu/news-events/housing-2030-study-published-cove…
# International, Affordable housing, Landlords and agents.Thousands of homes among their gum trees: the assault on Sydney’s last healthy koalas
Elizabeth Farrelly The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)In June 2020, a NSW Upper House inquiry, having heard much learned scientific evidence, found that without urgent action “the koala will become extinct in NSW before 2050”. The Campbelltown koalas are the last chlamydia-free population in Greater Sydney and one of the few thriving colonies in the state. You might think all those things would stop even the baddest of baddies fighting in court for the right to endanger these koalas further. Yet Lendlease has just done exactly that, successfully defending itself against a legal attempt by Save Sydney’s Koalas to force it into better manners. The development in question is Lendlease’s Figtree Hill, an immense and controversial redevelopment of a large chunk of the historic Mt Gilead farm south of Campbelltown. Some 1700 houses are planned for stage 1 and an unknown number for stage 2, some four times as big. None of this is good.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/thousands-of-h…
# Hot topic NSW, Planning and development.Delaying rooming house legalization across Toronto puts lives at risk, housing advocates warn
Kate McGillivray (No paywall)From Canada ... Housing advocates say they are deeply disappointed by Toronto city council's decision this week to put off a vote to legalize rooming houses — arguing that the move puts tenants at risk of illegal evictions and even death. Right now, there's a patchwork of rules governing rooming houses in Toronto that makes them illegal in some parts of the city and legal elsewhere. "This issue is never going away, because people need a place to live. [Illegal rooming houses] are going to continue to cater to that," said Geordie Dent, executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants' Associations. (CBC)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/delaying-rooming-house-le…
# International, Boarders and lodgers, Housing market, Local Government.Key safety documents withheld from apartment building investigation, engineer says
Matt O'Sullivan The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The structural engineer who raised serious concerns about the risk of a Sydney apartment tower collapsing said his fears were amplified by key structural documents for the building being withheld for 18 months. ... The latest revelations come as Greens MP David Shoebridge used parliamentary privilege to accuse the developer of the Canterbury building – Toplace – of being responsible for a “series of dangerous and defective buildings”, including the Skyview apartment complex in Castle Hill in Sydney’s north-west. “Toplace ... continue to construct apartment tower, after apartment tower, after apartment tower, despite this history of defective buildings,” Mr Shoebridge told the NSW Upper House on Thursday. ... The concerns about the Canterbury complex come as a report by the University of NSW has revealed it is almost impossible for purchasers to predict whether their new apartment will have building defects. The report by UNSW’s Futures Research Centre found poor business culture, poor capacity to carry out construction work and poor regulatory oversight in parts of the building industry have made buying an apartment a lottery for many purchasers in Sydney.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/key-safety-documents-withhel…
# Hot topic NSW, Strata, Housing market, Minimum habitability standards.